Stress-related illnesses are at an all time high in America, and there is no sign it will lessen. For the most part, doctors have identified the basic cause of this to be our “seriousness”. By that they mean taking ourselves too seriously, thus causing so much pressure that any meaningful stress management is impossible. When things are beyond our power to solve, we must drop the ball; not easy for non-quitters.
Unhealthy levels of stress show as mood changes, migraines, hair loss, wor........ Read More

My wife and I were brought up in families with dogs. In her case, Corgis with the unfortunate name of Haggis. In my case, Welsh Terriers with the more prosaic name of Taffy. When we married we still wanted dogs, but what sort? The first was a mongrel named Lemon Curd. The second a Dalmatian named Miffy.
By now we had moved to a house in 8 acres and had 3 young children. We had chickens, ducks and goats and hit on the idea of breeding Airedales. As much as anything to give our children an insig........ Read More

Many people are under the mistaken assumption that commands need to be one syllable.
"Sit."
"Down"
"Up" (in the car).
"Kennel up"
This is not an accurate understanding (or observation) of how dogs learn.
In my experience, dogs recognize sound patterns, rhythms and tonality. Have you ever noticed how your dog's ears perk up when you ask, "Do you want a cookie?" just as much as they do if you just say, "Cookie"?
Now, when you're out in the field, sometimes it's best to have commands that ar........ Read More